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First Posted: 8/24/2013
(AP) Kevin Kolb left the game with concussion-like symptoms, leaving the Buffalo Bills with an undrafted rookie as their only healthy quarterback.
That’s right. There’s a team even more quarterback-depleted this preseason than the Washington Redskins, who are making do without Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins.
The Redskins beat the Bills 30-7 Saturday, but nearly all of the focus was on the players who either left early or didn’t play at all.
Kolb was hurt in the first quarter after he was kneed in the back of the helmet at the end of an 8-yard scramble. He remained in the game for four more plays until the drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by C.J. Spiller.
Once Kolb left, Jeff Tuel from Washington State completed 10 of 17 passes for 63 yards as the last Bills QB standing.
Kolb had the inside track in Buffalo’s quarterback competition after first-round pick EJ Manuel hurt his left knee in the Bills’ previous game. Manuel was ruled out for the rest of the preseason, and Kolb’s status will be in question given his history with concussions.
Kolb lost the Eagles’ starting job to Michael Vick in 2010 when he was sidelined by a concussion in the season opener. He spent the past two seasons in Arizona, where he failed to secure the starting job because of an assortment of injuries, including a concussion in 2011.
With Griffin and Cousins out, third-stringer Rex Grossman completed 11 of 21 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown for the Redskins. At least he didn’t have to play the entire game because Washington, unlike Buffalo, is carrying four quarterbacks in the preseason. Pat White took his turns under center and went 7 for 14 for 96 yards and scored on a 14-yard run.
Griffin isn’t playing in the preseason as he works his way back from reconstructive knee surgery. On Saturday, the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year dressed to impress the NFL, showing up in his full uniform more than two hours before kickoff, thus avoiding the type of dress code violation that got him fined a few days earlier.
Griffin wore a T-shirt with the words “Operation Patience” before the Redskins’ game Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The league declared it “unauthorized apparel” and fined him $10,000.
Griffin’s backup, Cousins, missed the game after spraining his right foot against the Steelers.
Also on the sideline was Jairus Byrd, wearing a white Bills T-shirt, white baseball cap and blue shorts, having rejoined the team Thursday night after a contentious offseason. The two-time Pro Bowl safety was hoping for a big payday this year, but Buffalo designated him as a franchise player, and the two sides couldn’t work out a deal.
Byrd missed all of the offseason practices and training camp before finally signing a one-year, $6.9 million franchise tender.
Spiller started despite a report that a relative was involved in a shooting rampage Saturday morning in North Florida. Three people were killed and two injured before the gunman shot himself; Gainesville TV station WCJB identified the gunman as Spiller’s step-grandfather.
Spiller grabbed his right knee as he went to the ground after scoring his touchdown, but later returned to the game.
The Bills also had two defensive backs injured in the first half. Da’Norris Searcy, who started in place of Byrd, suffered a head injury. Starting cornerback Stephon Gilmore left with a wrist injury.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
Associated Press